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A Soggy Day for Woodmansterne Wildlife

On a rainy day in March, I joined Surrey Wildlife Trust to deliver a wonderful garden wildlife course in partnership with the Co-operative.

Frances Halstead, Environmental Group Support Officer for SWT, delivered a talk on “how to attract wildlife to your garden”. With many of our garden birds, bats, insects and wildflowers disappearing, this was a great opportunity for people to seek advice on how to plant wildlife friendly plants and discover other top tips for their gardens.

Attendees were eager to ask questions and I was happy to offer advice on how to plant wildflower seeds and encourage bats and birds to your garden. The project supplied attendees with free wildflower seeds to pot up and take home, along with a variety of leaflets and information from the Biodiversity Gardens display.

Free refreshments were provided courtesy of the Co-op and after lunch we ventured out into the rain to explore the wilderness of Woodmansterne Village Hall grounds.

We looked at a good example of undulating urban wildflower meadows with raised islands interspersed between food-growing areas. Elsewhere we came across a fish-free pond designed to benefit the garden as a whole. Not only does this provide a home for frogs, the shallow edges provide easy access to water for our declining hedgehogs, who will in turn keep the number of slugs at bay for the vegetable plots.

The event attracted over 20 people from different backgrounds who enjoyed the ideas and activities from the day. I thought this was an excellent opportunity to reach a new audience and hope to see familiar faces at our upcoming events, specifically our Garden WildlifeShowcase. I came away with a positive feeling that people gained new knowledge for wildlife gardening.